Lincoln Vs. Obama

In celebrating the bicentennial birthday of Abraham Lincoln, many comparisons have been made between our new president, Barack Obama, and Lincoln himself. One video i found on MSNBC listed similarities from their political backgrounds to their physical appearances, being tall and lanky. Another article i found had listed America's presidents from best to worst, based on the opinions of several historians. While this didn't didn't make any references to Obama, it did list Lincoln as the best president in history, Buchanan as the worst, and president Bush as 36th worst.

I found it interesting that the worst president, Buchanan, was directly preceding the best president in history, Lincoln. Seeing as president Bush didn't rank much higher than Buchanan, it's interesting to compare the situations that they were both in. Buchanan was faced with the problems of territorial expansion, the threat of the south succeeding, a failing economy, war, and a stalemate in the federal government. George Bush actually faced many of the same problems, though in a very different time.

In the case of both George Bush and James Buchanan, the problems arising in their presidencies were very possibly going to happen regardless of their actions, but were accentuated by decisions that they made.

If history is cyclical, lets hope that Obama's presidency resembles that of Lincolns, solving the problems arising in Bush's presidency as Lincoln did of the one's from Buchanan's. Hopefully the similaities pushed on us by the press are as close as they suggest.